25 May 2011

2011 Depot Draft Preview - Finding 1:4 (Taylor Jungmann)

We continue our annual look at amateur talents the Baltimore Orioles could (should) be targeting in the 1st Round and beyond. Over the next two weeks we will bear down on the eight potential 1st Round targets listed below, followed by a week dedicated to the 2nd - 5th Rounds and finally the 6th - 10th Rounds. As a reminder, the draft coverage here will focus on Baltimore. More in-depth coverage, including rankings, scouting reports, videos and more can be found over at http://www.diamondscapescouting.com/.

*Every player discussed in the Depot Draft Preview has been scouted by Nick J. Faleris, either through his efforts at DiamondScape Scouting or as part of his duties as an Associate Scout in the Midwest Region for a National League organization.

*Notes on Grades: The Scouting Scale works from 20-80, with 50 being Major League Average. The scale operates loosely on a bell curve, so the further you move from 50 the fewer grades you'll find among ML players (e.g. Aroldis Chapman's fastball, Ichiro Suzuki's arm strength, Adam Dunn's power and Albert Pujols' hit tool would all be 80 grade). A 60 grade is sometimes referred to as plus and a 70 grade is sometimes referred to as plus-plus.

Motion:Jungmann toes mid-rubber and ends to the far first base side with his balance leg as he enters his leg kick. His stride is to the inner-corner of the plate (to righties) and his release comes low-three-quarters across his body. Generally, the above description would lead to visions of a cross-body slinger with issues commanding the ball because of inconsistencies in release. This was partially true for Jungmann through last spring. The Texas ace has cleaned-up two aspects of his delivery in 2011 leading to improved command this year and much better consistency in his release, which in turn has improved the consistency of his secondaries. His stride last spring was more towards the righty batter's box, for one. He now strides more in line with the plate, though not directly at it, which has limited the extent to which he has to swing around his plant leg. Secondly, he has softened his landing, which in conjunction with the more direct stride has smoothed out the transition from kick to release. He is still able to create excellent angles with his long arms, but he is cleaner and more fluid in his actions. This allows him to stay low effort, with any recoil coming post release as he follows-through across his plant leg. Jungmann uses a medium stride, and while it might be tempting to try and extend it to get more drive (and velo) it works well with his arm action and cross-fire angle -- teams should probably be hesitant to tinker too much with something already so successful.

Stuff:Fastball - Low- to mid-90s with his fastball, Jungmann gets some life on the pitch but really excels by keeping a tough plane to the plate. It's a difficult pitch for righties to square, and when he's working the inner-half of the plate it can be almost unhittable. He is supremely confident in the pitch and executes it well.

Curve - Jungmann's curve is a two-plane offering that was more accurately referred to as a power slurve entering the season. Since finding more consistency in his release with his softened mechanics it now has truer curve "shape", while maintaining the two-plane action. It has similar effectiveness to lefties as a back foot slider because of the angle and trajectory created by the low slot. He can work as low as 78 mph and as high as 82/83 mph with the pitch without losing command, shape or feel.

Change-up - Jungmann utilizes a more traditional change-up with some late drop and fade, getting arm slot and arm speed deception. He has also grown a once-gimmicky-now-filthy "screw" change, which he turns over with enough arm speed to give the offering near-breaking ball depth away from lefties. He tips the pitch sometimes -- particularly the "screw" variety -- but it is a third potential plus pitch with continued reps.

Discussion:The word to describe Jungmann is "easy". The command, the velocity, the production all comes across as effortless. On the rare occasion where Jungmann runs into trouble, he is quick to shake it off and get back to business. He has also matured as a pitcher, showing an advanced approach and keeping his pitch counts relatively low while working deep into games on a regular basis. Jungmann hasn't received the fanfare of some of the other top arms in this draft, but his drafting organization is getting an advanced talent with the potential for three plus pitches and a long track record of success against some of the best collegiate talent around. He profiles as a front-end starter with a high floor.

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